A Trio of Mother Hens
by Yankee01754
Summary: When the Riptide detectives decide to spend some time visiting Cayce McKenna nobody bargained on her spraining her ankle and having three mother hens watching over her for a week.


A Trio of Mother Hens

By Janet Brayden

The men of the Riptide Detective Agency were in a slump. Business was not booming at the moment so they decided to pay a visit to Cayce McKenna at the Lazy M ranch in Sunny Acres, California. Cayce's uncle, Colonel Brian McKenna, had been Nick and Cody's commanding officer when they were in the MPs. Murray had only recently met Colonel McKenna. A few months ago, in the late summer, Cayce had been the victim of an attempted kidnapping and much sabotage and attempted sabotage to keep her from winning top prize money on the horse show and rodeo circuit. Since that time she had become very much a little sister to the three men – even Murray who had a younger sister already.

Cayce had told the men that they were to consider the Lazy M their second home and to come up and visit her at the ranch, which was located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, any time they wanted. The house was never locked because there was always somebody around and there was a full time housekeeper as well.

So on a bright sunny day in King Harbor the three detectives loaded suitcases into Nick's vintage Sikorsky helicopter – lovingly painted pink and named The Screaming Mimi – and headed northeast for a visit. Little did they know what that visit would entail.

"I can't wait to get there," Boz said with a giggle. "Cayce promised me riding lessons."

"I can't wait to see her face, myself," Cody said. "She thinks we're too busy to vacation or don't want to leave the Riptide."

"Nah, it's not the Riptide she thinks we don't want to leave," Nick scoffed. "She thinks we don't want to leave the city."

"Well, we're going to prove her wrong," Cody stated with authority.

The three men loaded their suitcases in the cargo bay where Murray made sure they were out of the way and tied down. Nick and Cody climbed up into the cockpit and took their places at the controls and in the co-pilot's seat. All was in readiness on their end except for notifying Cayce when they got close to the Lazy M that they were on their way.

The men put their headphones on and Nick notified the air traffic controllers for Los Angeles that they were taking off and what their destination was. He would notify the air traffic controller for the Sunny Acres area once they got within range. Along the route he would also be in touch with San Francisco and Sacramento.

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Winter hadn't quite left the part of the Sierra Madre Mountains where the Lazy M ranch was located. Patches of snow and ice were evident here and there around the house, the barn and the other outbuildings. Ice formed on the water troughs every night and the snow that dripped off the eaves of the ranch house turned into ice when it froze on the steps.

Cayce was very careful as she carried another armload of firewood in to feed the blaze in the living room fireplace. Dusting herself off after placing the wood in the rack to the right of the brick fireplace she headed to her office. The radio on the shelf crackled and she grinned when she heard a familiar voice announcing that Sikorsky N-Six Niner Eight was approaching the Lazy M ranch and would be landing, as usual, in the field behind the barn.

"Hi guys!" she said when she had picked up the microphone.

"Hi Cayce!" Cody responded.

"What brings you here at this time of year?" the young woman asked with twinkling eyes. "I thought you hated the cold, Cody. Isn't that why you stayed in Southern California when you got out of the army instead of going home to your Mom's place in Connecticut?"

Cody rolled his eyes as Nick laughed at him. Cayce had such a way of getting her digs in at him sometimes it was hard to believe she was twelve years younger than he was.

"Don't you be rolling your eyes, Nicholas Joseph Ryder," she scolded into the microphone. "You're the typical Southern Californian – if the weather gets below seventy you're breaking out the winter jacket."

Murray giggled that famous, or infamous according to some, Bozinsky giggle. He knew exactly what Cayce was talking about. He, himself, didn't mind the cold that much. After all he'd gone to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – more commonly known as MIT – and was quite used to winter weather if it came.

"We're having a little down time so we thought we'd come up for a visit," Cody responded while manfully restraining from making any undignified remarks that would give her more ammunition.

"Well you know where to land," she told them. "I'll see you when you get here."

"Sikorsky N-Six Niner-Eight out," Nick said as they made their final approach. They were only a couple of miles away at this point and could see the house and the barn quite clearly.

Five minutes later Cayce heard the distinctive whup-whup of the aging helicopter so she ran out to meet them. She waited for Nick to land and then started over to meet them. In her eagerness to see her adopted brothers she didn't notice the patch of ice in her path. She put her right foot down only to her both feet suddenly go right out from under her.

"Ow!" she exclaimed in pain as she blinked back tears.

The two men in the cockpit saw her fall. Nick opened the sliding window on his side of the cockpit and scrambled down the footholds like a monkey. Cody slipped down into the cargo bay and jumped out as soon as he opened the door. Murray was right behind him.

Nick was at her side a split second before Cody and Boz wasn't far behind. All were concerned about their young friend.

"Cayce? Are you ok?" Nick asked as he knelt on the cold ground beside her.

"My ankle hurts," she replied still fighting back tears of pain.

"Which one?" Cody asked her.

"The right one."

Nick gently probed the ankle with his long, strong fingers and sighed in relief when he didn't find any obvious breaks.

"It doesn't feel like it's broken," he told her and his partners, "but she'd probably better have x-rays to make sure."

"I'll get the keys to the station wagon," Cody said.

"And I'll get a couple of pillows and a blanket," Murray added.

Both men knew exactly where to find what they were after and they weren't five minutes getting them from the house and returning to the scene of the accident. Cody and Boz went immediately to get the ranch's station wagon. Murray lowered the tailgate after raising the back window and put the pillows and blanket in the rear section. Cody slid into the driver's seat and pulled up as close as he could to Cayce and Nick. Nick, against Cayce's protests to the contrary, picked her up as though she were a child – and indeed she was a very slim young woman – and put her in the back. Boz insisted on riding in the back with her to keep her company while Nick slid into the passenger's seat next to Cody. They'd spent enough time at the Lazy M to know exactly how to get to the doctor's office and hospital in Sunny Acres.

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"It's a bad sprain," Dr. Thomas Moore told them. "No broken bones though."

He handed Cayce the paperwork to sign that would release her from the Emergency Room.

"Use the crutches I gave you and try to avoid walking up and downstairs too much," he told her. "Make sure you hold onto the railing if you do use the stairs. Ice it a couple of times a day for fifteen minutes at a time, rest and elevate it when you're sitting down. Come see me at my office at the end of the week so I can see how it's coming. By then you should be able to start putting some weight on it."

He handed the young woman her copy of the paperwork and left the cubicle. Cody handed her her crutches and all three men hovered around her as they made their way out to the parking area to get into the car for the ride back to the Lazy M.

They pulled into the road to the Lazy M an hour later. Cody parked the station wagon in one of the spaces near the house. When Cayce attempted to use her crutches to get up and into the house she found herself in Nick's arms again while Cody went ahead to open the door and find out if Josefina Morales – Cayce's housekeeper – was there. She wasn't anywhere to be found.

While he was checking the kitchen Nick carried Cayce into the living room and put her down on the couch. Murray scurried out to the car to get the pillow and blanket from the back and brought them inside. Nick took the pillow and put it behind Cayce's head. Not satisfied was elevated enough with the small pillows from the couch he ran upstairs to the hall closet and grabbed two more plus another blanket.

"Guys! Guys! This really isn't necessary," Cayce protested to no avail. "I can sit in the chair with my feet on the ottoman."

"Nope. Not gonna happen little girl," Nick told her. "We're going to make sure that you take care of yourself until that ankle heals."

"Yeah," Cody chimed in as he returned from the kitchen with a glass of water plus the painkillers that the doctor had prescribed for her. "Settle down and relax. Take your medication and a nap. We'll take care of things here."

"What do you need done?" Murray asked taking a small notebook and a pen from his pocket.

"Doc needs some exercise but you guys aren't ready for that," she told them bluntly. "I don't know what Alex needs done around the barn. I was chopping firewood and bringing it in. It gets pretty chilly up here at night, still, and I've been lighting a fire every night." Looking over at the stone fireplace, which was across from the couch, she added, "the ashes need to be taken out and I was going to get some steaks out of the freezer and have them and baked potatoes for supper."

"No problem," Cody said. "I'll get the stuff ready for supper. Murray can clean the fireplace and Nick will chop some more wood for you. You just lie back and get some sleep. We'll have things fixed up in no time. When I'm through finding supper I'll go talk to McGregor and see what needs to be done around the barn."

The three men kissed Cayce's forehead before heading off to do just that. Murray, as much of a worrywart as the other two, checked on her constantly while he cleaned the fireplace out. Any time she moved he froze afraid that he was waking her up. Once he even went over and checked her forehead to see if she had any fever. Finding none he pulled the blanket up to her shoulders again and went back to work.

An hour later Nick came in with another load of firewood. He, too, checked Cayce to see that she was well covered, sleeping peacefully and had no fever. When Cody finished putting together the fixings for their supper he repeated the action. It was a wonder Cayce got any sleep at all with the trio of mother hens checking on her so much.

It was late in the afternoon before the young rancher roused from her nap. The house was blessedly peaceful so she grabbed her crutches and maneuvered her way around to the staircase to go up to her room and grab a shower and change. She didn't know what a panic her absence from the couch was going to cause.

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"You know she's going to have your head, don't you?" Cody asked Nick who was limping slightly and covered in mud.

"She can't have my head if she doesn't know what happened," Nick responded. "I'm not going to tell her and neither are you!"

Nick had violated Cayce's policy of not riding Doc – or any other horse on her ranch – if they weren't experienced riders or accompanied by one. He'd gotten Brian Hays to saddle him and had taken Cayce's prize barrel racer out to get some exercise. Doc was so full of pent up energy from lack of exercise over the last few days and that he had promptly taken the bit in his teeth and run off with Nick. When he'd finally responded to Nick's command to "whoa" he'd stopped up short and the Italian had gone flying out of the saddle to land in a muddy patch three feet away. Doc had just stood there looking at him as if to say "what are you doing down there?" and had waited patiently for Nick to get back up and into the saddle again.

The men walked into the living room and came up short when they found the couch empty with the pillow still in place and the blanket thrown over the end. Cayce, and her crutches were nowhere in sight.

"Wait a minute," Nick said as his mind registered the scene in front of them. "Where's Cayce?"

"What are you asking me for?" Cody responded. "She's obviously not here."

Nick glared at Cody. "Where do you suppose she went?"

"I don't know but maybe we'd better make sure she's not in any more trouble," Cody replied. "Cayce? Where are you?"

There was no immediate answer so the two panicky detectives started a search of the lower floor of the house. Cody went to the kitchen and even opened the door to the cellar and called down, "Cayce? Are you down cellar?"

"Cayce? Where are you?" Nick yelled as he headed toward the den. "We told you to stay put!"

"What's wrong guys?" Murray asked as he came in from emptying the last of the ashes in the barbecue pit around to the back of the house.

"Cayce's not in the living room," Cody explained. "Did you see her outside?"

"No," Boz replied, "but I'm sure she couldn't have gone far. After all, she _is_ on crutches."

"Doesn't mean a thing with that girl," Nick said as he joined them in the kitchen. "She's notorious for getting into scrapes whether she's got two good feet – or arms – or not."

"She really shouldn't be walking around much," Cody said with a worried frown.

"Well, where have you looked?" their partner asked the two older men.

"We just started looking down here," Nick told him. "She's not in the living room and she's not in the den. Obviously she's not here either."

"Nope and she's not down cellar," Cody chimed in.

"Did you check the office?" Boz asked. "She likes to work with headphones on when she's alone so she might not have heard you."

Cody took a quick look – the office being located just off the kitchen.

"Not in there."

"You don't think she tried to take the stairs do you?" Nick asked his partners.

"Only one way to find out," Cody said and started for the back stairs.

"I'll go up the front stairs," Nick said as he headed for the front entry.

Murray followed Cody and both were relieved not to find Cayce lying on the floor unable to get up but uncertain as to where to look next. Nick's reaction was basically the same as his partners – relief and frustration.

"Where the heck did she go?" Nick was getting a little nervous. It was silly, he knew, but he couldn't help it.

"Might I suggest," Murray said, "that we check the rest of the rooms on this floor?"

"Good idea, Murray," Cody said. "Let's start with the guest rooms. She's probably trying to get rooms ready for us."

"What about checking her room?" Murray asked. "Maybe she simply wanted to lie down on her bed to nap. We _were_ pretty annoying when she was sleeping on the couch."

"You know, this is the first time we've been in this part of the house," Cody said. "Last time we were here we were 'employees'. How do we know which room is hers?"

"Process of elimination," Nick told him. Check all the rooms that are up here until we find her."

"Uh, guys, I know which room is hers," Murray told his friends. "Remember? When we were here last time I stayed in one of these guest rooms. Cayce's room is the one that the door is shut – the one behind Cody. She's got a private bath."

"Why didn't you say so?" Nick asked reaching behind Cody to knock on Cayce's door.

There was no answer to the first knock so he knocked again harder. This time he heard the thump-hop of someone on crutches walking around the room.

"Just a minute," Cayce called.

A moment later the young woman, still wet from her shower but dressed except for shoes and socks and her shirt un-tucked, opened the door.

"Hi guys," she said cheerily. "I didn't hear you at first. I just got out of the shower."

"Cayce Jillian McKenna!" Cody scolded. "We've been looking all over the house for you!"

"Have you been up here all this time?" Boz asked her. "Didn't you hear us calling?"

"Did you climb those stairs on your own after we told you to stay off of them?" Nick demanded to know.

"To answer your questions, in order," Cayce replied, "Yes, I've been up here for a while – maybe half an hour, no I didn't hear you calling me and, yes, I managed to get up the stairs on my own. Did you think somebody walked in off the street and kidnapped me or something? Sheesh!"

"We were worried," Cody told her, "when we came in and you weren't on the couch. You didn't answer us when we called and we looked in all the rooms downstairs – including the cellar."

"I was in the shower, Cody," Cayce explained as patiently as she could. "I can't hear much of anything when the water is running."

"You could have left us a note," Nick said.

"A note telling you that I'd gone upstairs to take a shower? Get real!"

Murray decided he'd better play peacemaker before this discussion got out of hand.

"She seems to be just fine," he said pointing out and quite logically added, "and she needs to get off her feet and we're keeping her here standing when she really should sit down."

"You're right," Cody admitted. "Have a seat on the bed kiddo and I'll rewrap that ankle for you."

Cayce hobbled over to her bed and sat down. Cody picked up the ace bandage and did a credible job of rewrapping Cayce's injured ankle. Cayce looked at the men's faces and lingered longest on Nick whose disheveled appearance called for comment.

"So Nick, what happened to you?" she asked. "No, let me guess – you decided to make yourself useful and take Doc out for some exercise even though I told you guys not to. Isn't that right?"

"What makes you say that?" the Italian asked defensively even though he knew he was caught.

"Elementary my dear Nicholas," she said. "Chopping wood and stacking it – inside or out – does not get one into the condition you're in. Your clothes are muddy, you're favoring your right side a little bit and I can see the slide burns where the reins got pulled through your hands. I told you not to try and ride him. None of you is a good enough rider – yet – to take him on when he hasn't had any exercise for more than a day."

Nick looked down at his feet. He'd never thought that a twenty-four year old cowgirl would be such a good detective. For a girl who was ten years younger than he was she was doing a good job of making him feel guilty which made him mad.

"Look, Cayce, I was just trying to help," he said to his hostess/adopted sister.

"I know," she softened her tone a little, "but you don't ride nearly well enough to take on a horse that's literally feeling his oats – even one who hasn't had that much in the line of grain for the last few days."

"I think we've discussed this enough," Cody interrupted before it could get out of hand. "Nick's sorry he disobeyed your orders, Cayce. Cayce's sorry she scared us, Nick. Let's just get ready for dinner. I'm cooking."

"What rooms do you want us to take, Cayce/" Boz asked her in an effort to completely change the subject.

"Well, why don't you take the room you had the first time you were here? Nick and Cody can share a room or they can take any rooms they want – except the one across the hall from me 'cause that's reserved for Uncle Brian when he comes up to visit and I don't let anybody else use it," Cayce told him. "He keeps some of his stuff here – jeans, shirts, boots, a spare uniform, a bathrobe and some pajamas for the most part. I never know what hour of the day – or night – he's going to arrive so Josefina and I keep his room ready for him."

By now Cody had finished wrapping Cayce's ankle and was helping her up. When they got to the stairs all three men wisely backed off and let her negotiate on her own. Once downstairs they went out to the Mimi and retrieved their luggage and went back upstairs to claim bedrooms. Murray took the room with the green and gold wallpaper while Nick and Cody, quite accustomed to sharing a room by now, took the yellow and white room that had twin beds in it. It was this room that Brian McKenna and his older brother, John – Cayce's deceased father, had shared when they were kids.

Supper consisted of steak, mashed potatoes, corn, a green salad plus coffee and milk. Cayce had made a chocolate cake for dessert and all four of them had large wedges washed down with coffee or milk. Cayce made sure Murray got the largest piece – she, too, was trying to fatten him up a little. If Josefina had been there she'd have made sure the thin detective got the largest steak and the most potatoes as well as the largest piece of cake.

All four retired fairly early that night. In spite of any protests to the contrary Cayce's ankle was sore and sleeping in her own bed sounded wonderful. It didn't take her long to shed her jeans, flannel shirt, moccasins and socks and get into flannel pajamas. Crawling under the covers felt wonderful. She was asleep shortly after she turned her light out.

Her adopted brothers settled themselves in their respective guest rooms. Nick donned his sweats and sleeveless shirt, Cody slept in his shorts and tee but kept a robe handy and Boz was wearing red and black flannel pajamas. All of them did a little reading before they, too, turned their lights out and went to sleep.

Several times during the night Nick, or Cody, and sometimes Boz, got up to check on Cayce. All three heaved sighs of relief when they found that she was sleeping peacefully. Sprained ankles weren't a lot of fun and Cayce's was particularly nasty but she seemed to be doing well.

At six the next morning Nick, Cody and Boz quietly rose and, quickly dressing, went down to the kitchen to see about breakfast. Nick prowled around in the pantry and found a tray that they could use to take breakfast up to Cayce. Murray was frying sausage and eggs while Cody made pancakes. Nick got plates and silverware out and put them on the table. He also found the napkins, butter, syrup and jelly and put them on the table as well. He found a small pitcher that he warmed under hot water and filled it with syrup. This, along with a stick of butter on a plate, was placed on the tray for Cayce's exclusive use.

Glancing at the clock Cody said, "We'd better hurry or she'll be coming downstairs. I want to see if we can't keep her off her feet today."

"Easier said than done," Nick snorted as he finished readying Cayce's breakfast tray.

The plate contained six pancakes, three sausage links, two eggs, a glass of milk and a glass of orange juice. If they'd had access to flowers so early in the spring they would have put a flower in a glass, or vase, of water on the tray as well. Figuring that she'd enjoy some company while she ate the other two men grabbed platters with pancakes, eggs & sausage. They also loaded up a tray with plates, silverware, napkins and all the rest. The coffee pot and mugs as well were loaded onto one of the trays.

When they reached the second floor Nick knocked on Cayce's door and was rewarded with a "come in". Cayce was sitting on the side of her bed brushing her medium length brown hair.

"Breakfast is served, milady," Nick told her with a grin as he and the others walked in. "Make yourself comfortable and it will be served momentarily."

"Guys! You didn't have to do this!" Cayce was stunned. She'd never had breakfast in bed before.

"We want to make sure you stay off your feet as much as possible, today," Cody told her. "So we're starting with breakfast in bed and then, when you're ready, we'll help you down the stairs and get you settled in the living room. Tell us what you want – books, video tapes, records, snacks – you name it and we'll get it for you."

"That's right," Murray nodded. "No need for you to get up and around at all unless you absolutely have to."

"And I promise not to take one of the horses out for exercise unless McGregor or one of the others goes with me," Nick swore while crossing his heart while Cayce looked skeptical. "Honest," he said looking her straight in the eye.

"Ok, I believe you," Cayce told him.

The four friends settled down to eat breakfast. Cayce directed Murray where to find a folding table to set up for them to use plus chairs. It didn't take long to set up and put everything out but the men insisted that Cayce sit on her bed to eat with her feet up. She enjoyed every mouthful for Cody, as well as Nick, was a pretty good cook. She didn't let them know how much she enjoyed having breakfast in bed because she fully intended to make her way downstairs the next morning – she didn't want them to get into the habit of bring her her breakfast. Most mornings she ate on the run and didn't settle down to a good meal until supper – much to Josefina's distress – because she was always teaching or training or heading off to a show or a rodeo.

After breakfast the men cleaned up and Cayce slowly made her way downstairs to the living room to sit in her brown leather recliner with her feet up. Cody brought her several books he thought she'd enjoy, Murray chose some movies – fully intending to watch the tapes with her after checking out her office to see if her bookkeeping was up to date (his power of attorney was still in effect at her insistence) among which were Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. Cayce had heard Nick and Cody mention that Murray would fall apart every time they watched a movie with a sad ending so she made sure that none of the movies were sad.

Boz and Cayce watched the videos for a few hours before he decided to go outside and see what was happening around the barn and corrals. He was pretty sure Nick was working there or checking out Cayce's motor fleet including her helicopter, the Red Baroness. None of the three men wanted to be an imposition on her hospitality – especially with her laid up with the sprained ankle.

A little before noon Cayce hobbled into the kitchen to see about lunch. She found Cody already in the process of making sandwiches. He was so intent on his work that he didn't notice her at first. When he did he was concerned, and upset, that she was on her feet.

"Cayce!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be taking it easy and staying off your feet as much as possible, remember?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I remember but I'm bored with sitting around and I thought I'd see what there was for lunch. Josefina went shopping before she went on vacation."

"I've got everything under control," Cody told her while pulling out a chair for her and making her sit down. "How does ham and cheese with lettuce on a sub roll sound? With chips and a pickle and some milk?"

"Sounds good to me," she grinned. "What are you guys going to eat while I'm eating all the ham and cheese?"

"Very funny," Cody grumbled. "You sound like you'd like to starve us."

"Nah," she laughed. "If I did that I wouldn't have the three best mother hens in the business to look after things for me while my ankle heals. I won't eat it all – just half."

The two of them laughed. Cayce had a good appetite and, working as hard as she did around the ranch, she didn't put any weight on. It was burned off lifting saddles and grooming horses and wrestling calves and cows out of mud holes and freeing foals who got their feet stuck in the walls of the stable or between rocks. After working "in the field" all day she usually ate a good supper and worked on the bookkeeping for a while before turning in.

Five minutes later, just as Cody was finishing up getting lunch on the table, Nick and Boz came in. When Nick saw Cayce sitting in the chair he started to say something but clamped down on it when he saw Cody's warning look. Cayce wasn't going to put up with being fussed over continually and they'd been doing that since they'd arrived the day before and seen her accident.

The two men went to the small bathroom off the kitchen to wash up. When they came out they sat at the table and, after a short blessing by Cayce, they all dug into the sandwiches Cody had made. Once they were through and the dishes were done, and put away, the four friends retired to the living room. Cayce's Trivial Pursuit game was taken out of the closet, set up on the coffee table so that Cayce could rest on the couch while they played, and they enjoyed a very short game as Cayce answered won the roll of the die to go first, answered her first question and every question thereafter until she finally wound up in the center. Murray picked what he thought was the hardest question in the category he thought she was weakest in but she answered that question and the game ended without any of the men ever getting a chance to move. After that it was decided that Cayce should take a nap while the detective trio took the game out to the dining room and played one without her.

Nick and Cody, in particular, insisted that Cayce go up to her room to rest and made sure that she got up the stairs without any trouble. She rested for about an hour and a half and then made her way back downstairs. Nick took over the cooking for supper and made a tasty lasagna and some garlic bread. The leftovers were wrapped up and put in the freezer for Cayce to heat up at a later time.

Three days later Cayce's ankle was pretty well healed. She kept one crutch with her to be on the safe side as she hobbled out to the corral nearest the barn. Smokey Jim Kennelly saddled their oldest, and tamest, horse and Murray's riding lessons commenced. Unfortunately it was obvious that Boz would never be much of a rider but he was having fun even if he did slide around in the saddle a lot. After the horse was put away they climbed into the Baroness and Cayce gave them an aerial tour of the Lazy M. They hadn't been able to squeeze it in when the detectives were last there because their last visit had been their first visit and they'd been too busy trying to keep Cayce and Doc, her champion barrel racer, safe. All three men enjoyed it immensely.

Two days after that it had been a week since the accident and the men decided that they'd better head for home. They packed up their bags on Saturday morning and stowed them in the cargo bay of the Mimi. Before they climbed aboard all three gave Cayce a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. All in all, despite Cayce's accident it had been a wonderful visit and she appreciated everything they'd done for her. Josefina would be back on Monday to take over the cooking and housekeeping.

Cayce backed away from the Mimi and waved as Nick started her up and they lifted off. They would be back, they knew, and Cayce knew that she'd somehow find the time to visit them in Los Angeles. She wrangled a promise out of them that they'd take her to Disneyland and she'd take them to Knott's Berry Farm. They might even take in a Cubs game together though Cayce was a Red Sox fan having spent some time with her uncle at Fort Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts.

"We'll see you soon," Nick said through the PA system aboard the Mimi. "Try and stay out of trouble you hear?"

Cayce just grinned and waved as they left and turned back to the house. She'd be a little lonely with them gone but they all knew that they were just a phone, or radio, call away.


End file.
